House dissolution debate: Verdict likely next week
The Supreme Court is likely to hand down its final verdict on the debate related to the dissolution of the House of Representatives by the end of the next week.
KATHMANDU, July 5: The ongoing hearing on the House dissolution case at the Supreme Court (SC) has been over.
The hearing which resumed on June 23 and continued without an interruption finally concluded on the 11th day on Monday.
The Constitutional bench presided by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana will continue on July 12. CJ Rana shared that the verdict will be pronounced on the same day.
The bench comprises justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai along with CJ Rana.
Amicus curiae presented their opinion over the case following the reply debate by the legal practitioners of the writ petitioners including Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and 145 other members of the dissolved House.
Senior advocates Harihar Dahal, Badri Bahadur Karki, Krishna Prasad Bhandari and Shambhu Thapa replied on behalf of the plaintiffs on Monday.
The amicus curiae comprises four members --- Komal Prakash Ghimire, Prakash Bahadur KC, Raghav Lal Baidhya and Usha Malla Pathak. They were allotted a couple of hours.
Plaintiffs and defendants were allocated 15 hours each to prsent their arguments on the case.
The 275-member House of Representatives (HoR) was dissolved on May 22.
KATHMANDU, June 28: The defendants’ lawyers and government attorneys are scheduled to begin their debate on the House dissolution case which is being heard by the constitutional bench.
Government attorneys and legal practitioners representing the prime minister and the president will try to defend the House dissolution move, which has been, however, challenged by 26 writ petitioners.
The lower house of parliament was dissolved on May 22 by President Bidya Devi Bhandari upon the recommendation of the KP Sharma Oli-led Cabinet.
Legal practitioners on behalf of the writ petitioners finished their debates on Sunday.
The five-member constitutional bench allocated 15 hours each to both the sides --- petitioners and defendants. Petitioners now have three hours left for a reply debate.
Once the debate by defendants is over, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota’s legal practitioners will present their arguments in the allotted one hour
Plaintiffs will again present their reply which is then followed by the opinion to be presented by the amicus curiae.
The bench comprising the justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Dr Aanad Mohan Bhattarai along with Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR will pass the final verdict once it receives amicus curiae’ s opinion on the case.
KATHMANDU, May 30: Hearing over the writ petitions, which were filed against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR), at the Constitutional Bench was concluded for Sunday.
The five-member Bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher has been hearing the petitions since Friday.
Chief Justice Rana on Friday formed the Bench including the justices of the Supreme Court (SC) --- Dipak Kumar Karki, Dr Aanand Mohan Bhattarai, Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha--- under his leadership.
As many as 30 writ petitions were filed at the apex court terming President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s move to dissolve the House as unconstitutional.
Sunday’s hearing, however, did not enter into the issue of House dissolution. It witnessed a heated debate between the lawyers of both the plaintiffs and defendants over the issue of the formation of the Constitutional Bench. As petitioners raised questions over the formation of the Bench, Chief Justice Rana allotted one hour each to both the sides to debate on the issue.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, dissolved parliament on May 22 as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal.
KATHMANDU, May 28: Hearing over the writ petitions registered at the Supreme Court (SC) against the ‘unconstitutional’ dissolution of the House of Representatives is underway at the Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR-led five-member Constitutional Bench on Friday afternoon.
Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR formed a five-member Constitutional Bench under his leadership. The other four members of the Constitutional Bench include the justices Dipak Kumar Karki, Dr Aanand Mohan Bhattarai, Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha.
Petitioners and legal eagles, while pleading over the case, argued that the recent dissolution of the House had procedural error. Pleading against the dissolution, advocate Santosh Bhandari demanded the apex court reinstate the HoR as it was dissolved without completing the constitutional procedure of new government formation.
Another advocate, Sujan Nepal said that the prime minister elected as per Article 76 (3) can not skip Article 76 (4) and move on to Clause 5. “Article 76 (5) can be implemented only if the prime minister resigns or loses trust vote in parliament as per Clause 5,” he argued.
Another petitioner, advocate Shailendra Prasad Ambedkar said that the prime minister, who has yet to win a vote from parliament, can not dissolve the House.
Similarly, Mohana Ansari and Raj Kumar Suwal also pleaded against the House dissolution.
Of the 30 petitions registered at the Supreme Court (SC), 19 were heard at a single-bench led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JBR on Thursday. All of them have also been forwarded to the Constitutional Bench. Writ petitioners have demanded the SC issue an interim order to restore parliament. Friday’s bench will decide whether or not to issue the interim order as sought by the petitioners.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari, upon the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, dissolved parliament on May 22 as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal.
24 writ petitions registered at Supreme Court against House dissolution, 4 others in favor of PM Oli
KATHMANDU, May 25: As many as 24 writ petitions have been registered at the Supreme Court (SC) against the ‘unconstitutional’ dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR).
Following the House dissolution on May 22 by President Bidya Devi Bhandari at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, 146 outgoing lawmakers belonging to the opposition alliance reached the apex court in-person on Monday and registered a writ petition demanding House restoration and appointment of Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba. The petitioners claimed that the PM KP Oli-led government does not have a legitimacy to remain in power as the president had already called the MPs for new government formation.
According to the Supreme Court administration, as many as 28 writ petitions were filed at the court as of Monday including 24 against the House dissolution move. Four other petitions, however, were registered in favor of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
While nine of the 28 writ petitions will be forwarded to the Constitutional Bench, 19 others will be settled through the general bench.
When will hearing begin?
According to the SC administration, all the petitions will be entered into the computer record on Tuesday. There is public holiday on Wednesday on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti. Hearing at the Constitution Bench does not take place on Thursday. Therefore, hearing on the nine writ petitions including the one by 146 lawmakers is likely to begin on Friday.
Hearing at the general bench over the 19 writ petitions will begin Thursday onwards, according to a source at the SC.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved parliament at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, as per the Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal. Earlier, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba laid a claim for a new government with the support of 149 lawmakers as the President had called upon the members of the lower house of parliament to stake their claim for the new government formation as per Article 76 (5). Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who had opted not to take a trust vote in parliament as per Article 76 (4), also staked a claim for a new government. President Bhandari, however, rejected both the claims.
KATHMANDU, May 22: An alliance of opposition parties are preparing to knock at the door of the Supreme Court (SC) against President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli against the dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR).
As many as 149 lawmakers, who extended their support to the President of the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) on Friday to form a new government as per Article 76 (5) of the constitution, are preparing to file a writ petition against the House dissolution move.
A meeting of the leaders of the alliance of five parties --- Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN UML’s Nepal faction, JSP’s Yadav faction and Rastriya Jana Morcha --- decided to take both the political and legal actions against the move.
President Bhandari announced the mid-term polls for November 12 and 19 after dissolving the lower house of parliament at the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.
KATHMANDU, May 22: Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota has termed the move of dissolution of the House of Representatives (HoR) by the President, upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister, as unconstitutional and undemocratic.
Issuing a statement on Saturday, Speaker Sapkota said that the dissolution of the House of Representatives contradicted the verdict of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court on February 23 earlier this year. “It is to be noted that the verdict of the Supreme Court stated that it would go against the letter and spirit of the constitution if the House is dissolved as long as formation of a new government is possible through alternative means,” he said.
He also urged all the political parties, parliamentarians, civil society members, constitution experts, legal eagles, intellectuals, media fraternity and all the stakeholders to unite for the sake of national interest, constitution supremacy and protection of democracy in the country.
